Ainkurunooru 131-140: Breaking Bard

Sangam Lit

In this episode, we hear the rebuke rendered to a bard, as portrayed in Sangam Literary work, Ainkurunooru 131-140, situated in the ‘Neythal’ or ‘Coastal landscape’ and penned by the poet Ammoovanaar.

Thus flows the Fourteenth Ten of Ainkurunooru: Breaking Bard

131 Slander soars
நன்றே, பாண! கொண்கனது நட்பே
தில்லை வேலி இவ் ஊர்க்
கல்லென் கௌவை எழாஅக்காலே.

It would have been good, O bard, if the lord’s relationship had not made this town, fenced by the milky mangrove trees, resound with the sound of slander!

132 Rumour rises
அம்ம வாழி, பாண! புன்னை
அரும்பு மலி கானல் இவ் ஊர்
அலர் ஆகின்று, அவர் அருளுமாறே.

Listen, may you live long, O bard! In this town, brimming with laurel wood flowers in the seashore groves, rumours spread because he showers his graces.

133 Lifeless arms
யான் எவன் செய்கோ? பாண! ஆனாது
மெல்லம் புலம்பன் பிரிந்தென,
புல்லென்றன, என் புரி வளைத் தோளே!

What can I do, O bard? Unable to bear the parting away of the lord, who rules over the soft shores, lifeless turn my arms clad with twisted bangles!

134 Restored beauty
காண்மதி, பாண! இருங் கழிப்
பாய்பரி நெடுந் தேர்க் கொண்கனொடு
தான் வந்தன்று, என் மாமைக் கவினே.

See, O bard! When the lord of the shore comes through the dark backwaters, with his tall chariot and leaping horses, it seems to come along too – That dark-skinned beauty of mine!

135 Worries no more
பைதலம் அல்லேம், பாண! பணைத் தோள்,
ஐது அமைந்து அகன்ற அல்குல்,
நெய்தல் அம் கண்ணியை நேர்தல் நாம் பெறினே.

We will be rid of all sorrows, O bard! If only we could attain the beautiful one with bamboo-like arms, slender waists, wide hips and blue-lotus-like eyes!

136 Shameless support
நாண் இலை மன்ற, பாண! நீயே
கோள் நேர் இலங்கு வளை நெகிழ்த்த
கானல் அம் துறைவற்குச் சொல் உகுப்போயே!

You lack all shame, O bard! For you are shedding words of support to the one, who made my perfect, curvy, shining bangles slip away – The lord of the beautiful shores filled with groves!

137 Repeating fate
நின் ஒன்று வினவுவல், பாண! நும் ஊர்த்
திண் தேர்க் கொண்கனை நயந்தோர்
பண்டைத் தம் நலம் பெறுபவோ மற்றே?

I will ask you something, O bard! Has anyone, who has loved your town’s lord with sturdy chariots, ever attained their old beauty and health?

138 Stern words
பண்பு இலை மன்ற, பாண! இவ் ஊர்
அன்பு இல கடிய கழறி,
மென் புலக் கொண்கனைத் தாராதோயே!

You lack virtue, O bard! Since you do not scold the lord of the gentle shores with harsh words and bring him back to me!

139 Worse than you
அம்ம வாழி, கொண்க! எம் வயின்
மாண் நலம் மருட்டும் நின்னினும்,
பாணன் நல்லோர் நலம் சிதைக்கும்மே.

Listen, may you live long, O lord! Even more than you, who destroys only my good health, the bard destroys the health of many good women!

140 Shorn of bangles
காண்மதி பாண! நீ உரைத்தற்கு உரியை
துறை கெழு கொண்கன் பிரிந்தென,
இறை கேழ் எல் வளை நீங்கிய நிலையே.

See, O bard, the one who has the right to speak! See this state of mine, wherein, owing to the parting away of the lord of the shores, my well-set, shining bangles remain no more.

Thus concludes Ainkurunooru 131-140. All these verses are set in the context of a man’s married relationship with the lady and involves the conflict situation of a love-quarrel, owing to the man’s courting of courtesans. The unifying theme of all these ten songs is that all are about the bard’s involvement in the man’s distressing behaviour towards the lady. All are said by the lady and all but one are said to the bard and even the exception is said to the man, when the bard is in earshot.

One of the few elements of the coastal landscape we find here is mention of a seashore town being fenced by ‘thillai’ trees. These are commonly known as ‘milky mangroves’, which is a unique type of mangrove vegetation, whose milk causes blindness. Perhaps a protection the tree developed so as to force humans to leave it alone! Other than this reference, we see one to the ‘punnai’ tree or ‘Indian laurel wood tree’ shedding its beautiful flowers on the backwaters. Apart from these two references, all the other verses touch upon the ‘coastal landscape’ only through a reference to the man as the lord of the gentle shores.

The background of these verses is when the bard speaks to the lady on behalf of the man. In the first, the lady scolds the bard by mentioning how the man’s behaviour has made slander rise, and in the next one, she says this is because he showers his graces to those other women. In the third, she talks about how her arms have turned lifeless since the man left, and in the fourth, she offers a contrast by saying when the man returned, her beauty returned too! So much dependence on the man indeed!

In the fifth, she speaks sarcastically to the bard when the man is in earshot, saying if only a particular courtesan is attained, all sorrows would end, implying she knows about the man’s intention to seek out that courtesan. By bringing his secret intentions into the open, she hopes to prevent the man from going on that path.

The sixth sees the bard getting brickbats for supporting the man who makes the lady’s bangles slip away. In the seventh, the lady makes a statement to the bard that anyone who loves the man is bound to lose their heath and beauty and never ever get it back. In the eighth, there’s more rebuke for the bard for not saying stern words to the man and bringing him back to the lady. The ninth verse is the only exception where the lady addresses the man instead of the bard, even though the bard is still in earshot, and here, she declares the bard is worse than the man in making women suffer. Finally, in the tenth, the lady yet again shows the bard her pitiable state that makes her bangles slip away because of the man’s seeking of courtesans.

In a nutshell, the bard gets the blame for the man’s bad behaviour and seems to be an outlet for the outpouring of the lady’s fury! I thought we had left behind all these love quarrels in the ‘Marutham’ landscape but they seem to continue on this hundred too! The question arises in me as to why the Sangam poets wanted to record these domestic conflicts? Was it documentation of the times or was it a manual on how to be? Why was this so important to them to be described in song after song? Let’s keep the questions alive and see all we can through this window to the ancient world!